Vol. 40, No. 8
February 27, 2006
Missouri Schools Could Get $6 Million
for Students Displaced by Hurricanes
Schools in Missouri could get as much as $6 million in federal funds to help cover the cost of serving students who were displaced from their homes and schools by hurricanes at the beginning of this school year.
According to state education officials, public and private schools in Missouri can expect to be reimbursed up to $6,000 per student as a result of the Hurricane Education Recovery Act, which was signed into law in December by President Bush. Schools will get up to $7,500 per student for those receiving special education services.
The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has been collecting data from school districts since September about the number of students who enrolled in Missouri as a result of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, said Craig Rector, who coordinates several federal grant programs for the state education agency.
About 120 public school districts (out of 524) recently reported that they had enrolled 1,152 students from Gulf Coast states during the weeks immediately after the hurricanes (September and October). By December, the number of displaced students in public schools had dropped to 998. Fewer than 75 of those students were eligible for special education services.
Thirty-five private and parochial schools in Missouri also have reported that they are serving about 60 displaced students this year.
The funds that Missouri schools will receive before the end of this school year are a tiny fraction of the $645 million in emergency aid that Congress authorized to help states and local schools serve displaced students.
"Missouri schools played an important part in responding to the devastation caused by the hurricanes last fall. Some school districts received significant numbers of displaced students, and this federal assistance will be important for them," Rector said.